


Sniffles

by False_Ginger



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Bubble Bath, M/M, Sassy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 13:29:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15462429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/False_Ginger/pseuds/False_Ginger
Summary: So, Ronald and Grell got their asses handed to them on the Campania by that creepy old reaper, and to make matters worse, William added insult to their injuries when he arrived in his rescue dinghy. But what happened when the bloodied and beaten reapers returned home that night after a rough day? Domestic bliss is soured when Ronald's boyfriend gives him the cold shoulder, and no matter how pathetic Ronald tries to look with his runny nose and coughing fits, his love's icy heart remains tricky to melt. Will our blonde protagonist ever get the sympathy he deserves?!





	Sniffles

Ronald sneezed. 

William raised an eyebrow. 

The blonde was dripping all across his abode as he made toward the bathroom to run himself a hot bath. William diligently walked behind him to wipe up each drop on his hard wood floors with a towel propelled by his shoe. Salt water was especially hellish on mahogany, it seemed. 

At last, after dozens of droplets had fallen for William to clean up, Ronald turned the corner into the tiled bathroom. It was stark white all around, a very clean but none too welcoming room. It was efficient and tidy, just as William required. Nothing more. 

Ronald made toward a cabinet where he knew the towels would be after plenty of visits, and he helped himself to a plush gray one. For a moment, he buried his face into the terrycloth fabric and inhaled that clean detergent scent. It was a pleasant contrast to the smoke and fumes and mildew he’d been subjected to the past few days. 

He’d been sent to reap souls on the ship Campania along with Grell, and while it hadn’t gone quite as planned—at all—at least he was back home. William had come to rescue their sorry rears when they’d found themselves bobbing in the ocean, but it wasn’t exactly a smiling face they were greeted with. Of course, the entire way back to their realm, the stoic man was bemoaning the fact that there would be an eternity of paperwork to toil over because of the incident. 

Grell was much too busy alternating between fawning over the man and writhing in pain and sea sickness to be listening to a word he was saying, and Ronald was mostly feeling sorry for himself. It was an uncomfortable ride home in that dinghy all-around. 

“You still mad at me?” Ronald asked over his shoulder as he hunched over the bath to start the water. He grunted at a pain he felt in his lower back. That old man had kicked his ass, and more, hurt his pride. 

William, who’d taken to sitting atop the toilet lid and reading over some hefty documents, glanced up for a moment. “I’m hardly mad,” he said, turning a page over and adjusting his spectacles. “I am disappointed, however.” 

Ronald’s mouth pursed into a grim line, and he turned back to the water. 

“Not like it was our faults really. I mean, yeah, Grell did kinda speed up the sinking process when he jabbed his scythe into the ship, but—”

“Enough.” William’s brow twitched. “I’m ill enough of this already, and I don’t wish to hear any more of it tonight.”

Ronald sighed. He began peeling off his soaked clothes, then, knowing he’d catch a cold if he stayed in them for much longer. 

He sneezed. 

It might have already been too late. 

“You might try bein’ a little more sympathetic,” Ronald said nearly under his breath as he stripped down to his undergarments. The air was still slightly chilled, but the steam from the bath was rising to meet him pleasantly. 

William sniffed at him. Had he not just requested to drop the topic? “The situation could have been handled with more tact, undoubtedly, and I’m rather ashamed that the reapers responsible are under my employment.”

“Even if one’s your bloody boyfriend,” Ronald added. He set his jaw, growing irritated. “Look, we got our asses handed to us by that old blighter, and after that, there wasn’t much we could’ve done. Yeah, he got away, but he is Legendary Death, so maybe you ought to cut me and Red some slack.” 

William knew he was right, and so he buried his eyes back into his work. 

“I’m here, covered in bruises and frozen to the bone, and you’re just thinking of all the rutting paperwork you’ll need to do. Pretty selfish, Will.” Ronald stripped completely bare, then, and he tentatively dipped one foot into the water. It was almost too hot—and he loved it. He wanted to be pink when he was done, and to thaw every bit of slush that had formed in his veins. 

The raven-haired reaper seated on the toilet lid peered up again, admiring Ronald’s milky skin for but a moment. He watched as the boy doused his golden hair so that it clung flat to his skull. He watched him smile at the sensation. 

“I…apologize.”

Ronald glanced up from the bath with an expression of slight surprise written on his boyish features. 

“I am frustrated, yes, though not entirely with you and Sutcliff. I realize there is only so much you could have done. However, the Undertaker is someone who’s been under suspicion for some time now, and now it looks as though Administration has acted on it too late. London Dispatch will be made to look extremely foolish when word gets out of this travesty, and a great deal of pressure will be placed upon the managerial staff to clean in up in a timely manner.” 

He knit his brow and scowled, as he seemed to be so good at doing. 

“We tried to trust that man,” he continued, referring to the Undertaker. “We tried to respectfully allow him his unorthodox form of retirement, yet I’d always had a sinking fear that he would come to snap. At least now, it is blatant just how unstable he truly is.” 

Ronald, now, was the one who didn’t want to hear any more of it. He tuned William out fully as he sunk into the nigh boiling water and inhaled its steam. My god, he thought to himself, Will’s skill for complaining could rival that of a bored granny. He grinned to himself at the thought, and just how much the man would fume if he dared voice that juxtaposition. 

“And just what do you find so amusing of that, Ronald Knox?” William asked, still wearing that ever-serious expression of his. 

Ronald cracked an eye open and leered at the older reaper. 

“Ah geez, nothing. Just what a grand time it had been on the ship before everything went to hell. You know, the ladies were all over me.”

William huffed. 

“Is that so,” the man said in supposed disinterest, but Ronald wondered if he was secretly jealous. 

“Yeah, one even cornered me in a hallway to snog.” Ronald examined his lover’s face for any sign of distress, but of course he didn’t see anything. The man had trained himself flawlessly to be the best tree stump he could be. 

“We’d been seated together in the dining area earlier that night, and the little strumpet musta followed behind me when I left. I didn’t see her comin’!” He leaned his shoulders farther into the water and let his head fall back against the porcelain. 

“She grabbed me shoulder and right shoved me into the wall. She was sayin’ all these things about wanting me to take her in her cabin before her husband got back from meeting his mates. She put her hand right on my cock and gave me a proper squeeze, even!” He began laughing at the memory, and he knew it must have been getting to William by then. 

His laughter ceased after a few heartbeats, but his contented smile remained. “Too bad the lass is probably belly up in the Atlantic by now.” 

“A pity,” William said, though with a nearly suffocating amount of apathy in his voice. “I trust you didn’t let her proceed with you any further than that.” 

It wasn’t a question, but Ronald knew William wanted an answer. 

“Maybe,” he began, stretching his aching arms. “Or maybe I’ve been feeling neglected lately and wanted a little attention.” 

“You’ve been around Sutcliff too long,” William interjected, recognizing those ambiguous, flirtatious speaking patterns in an instant. He knew, though, that the young reaper was trying to get him to initiate something amorous. 

Ronald opened his mouth to make another sassy remark, but a grand sneeze erupted from him as he did, followed by a cough. Gods, he was getting ill. 

“I daresay that fit was deserved,” William said, revealing his own sass. He then sighed and rose from his seat to walk toward the tub. 

Ronald looked up at him with dark rings under his eyes and snot dripping from his nose, and William still felt the boy was the handsomest in the realm. In a rare moment of softness, William knelt next to the bath and removed a glove to clasp the lad’s chin. He reached for his handkerchief that was tucked away in his breast pocket and used it to clean Ronald’s nose. 

“Really, it’s irresponsible to have gotten yourself ill.” 

Ronald gave him that trademark crooked grin. 

“Yeah, I know. I’ll probably need someone to nurse me back to health.” He ran a moist hand along William’s tie, and the raven-haired reaper wasn’t even upset about the water touching the silk material. Even such a tree stump as himself could become caught up in a touching moment. 

Ronald raised himself from where he sat in the tub so that he could reach William’s cold lips. Despite the chill, both men melted into the gesture. They continued tenderly for a short while, then William broke away to whisper into Ronald’s ear. 

“I’m relieved you’re safe.” 

“I know.” 

William raised an eyebrow at the saucy reaper. 

“I know that’s why you’re angry with me, because you were worried about me.” Ronald relaxed to sit back in the tub, but he examined William’s expression carefully. There was the slightest hint of surprise written on his angular face. 

William knew that what he said was true. 

“I’m a big boy though, Will. I wasn’t gonna let that ancient wanker do any more to me than deal me a bruised ass.” He placed a wet hand atop William’s, which was resting on the cool rim of the bath. 

“You are a very capable reaper,” William concurred.

“And a capable lover,” Ronald added with a bold wink, gripping William’s hand a little tighter. 

“I can only hope you’re a faithful lover as well,” William said, imagining the tripe that had dared to place her hands on Ronald’s groin. It turned him on more than angered him, however. He knew Ronald wouldn’t compromise the integrity of their relationship, no matter how much he enjoyed teasing girls. 

Ronald only laughed at his quip, rising to his knees again to capture William’s lips. 

“You ought to join me in here.” He turned his head only slightly to plant a light peck on William’s cheek. “What say you?” 

William broke their lusty gaze to peer into the bathwater, which had turned a brownish color, with flecks of algae and debris dotting the bottom. 

“I’d say that your water is utterly filthy.” 

Ronald looked down as well, grunting in agreement. “Alright, fine. When I get out of here, though, I’m not gonna take no for an answer.”

 

William really should have moved the bed away from the wall. 

Every time he made a movement of passion, the frame would clap loudly against the plaster, though he was hardly pitying their neighbors in the heat of the moment.   
So there was that, as well as Ronald’s cries of rapture.

The boy was a screamer, after all.


End file.
